Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!helios!ttr1415
From: ttr1415@helios.TAMU.EDU (Thom Robertson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: I'd like to suggest a standardized up-load format.
Summary: ---
Keywords: upload,FTP,post
Message-ID: <16798@helios.TAMU.EDU>
Date: 3 Jun 91 07:20:30 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: Texas A&M University
Lines: 40

I'm a regular customer at ab20.larc.nasa.gov and other fine Amiga FTP sites.
Using these sites is a great privilege, but I have a small gripe that would
be simple to rectify.

When I look in the incoming directories of these sites, I see a mish-mash
jumble of files, most of which have confusing names and/or no accompanying
doc file telling the world what the compressed file is all about.  This
state of higglty-pigglty is also true of some of the non-incoming directories.
(Though this is not so true of ab20, of which I can not say enough praise).

Anyway, if everybody (or even most everybody) who uploads stuff to these
sites were to follow a common format, we would all be happier AND the guys
who maintain these sites would thank us.  I would like to propose the following
standards for submitting material to an FTP site:

1.  Always send a seperate, very small, uncompressed, vanilla ASCII text
file which succinctly describes the contents of the archive.  Name this
file whith exactly the same name as the archive, except for the suffix, which
should always be ".readme".  Remember, no capital letters, for us Unix guys.
This would make desisions about what to download and what not to, much
easier.  In ideal situations, one could get on the site, and type

mget *.readme

and be rewarded by short descriptions of every available archive.

2.  Always archive.  Everybody does this anyway, but I thought it bore
saying.

3. Always archive a DIRECTORY.  This way, when a person downloads your
stuff, and de-compresses it using the "consider extended filenames" option,
your archive will create it's own directory.  As a guy who has done a lot
of mass downloads, I can say that this is very handy.

My suggestions are put on this public forum for a reason.  I want to hash
this out; I can't be the only one who has an opinion :)

Thanx,

Thom Robertson